


Day 251

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [251]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26368300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [251]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 1





	Day 251

Felras lifted the latch on the upstairs window and swung the glass inwards. So far, everything had gone according to plan. None of the elven servants had looked twice at him moving through the halls.

Paherial clambered in through the window and shut it carefully behind him. He gave Felras a cockeyed smile and did a quick scan of the room. Felras had of course checked everything over before letting his mentor into the building, but Paherial never assumed Felras had done something properly. At first, Felras had taken it as an insult, but after spending more time with the man he had learned that he never assumed anything. Paherial would sometimes get Felras to check his mentor’s work, just to be safe.

The elves made their way through the servant passages. Everyone they met was too focused on their own duties to question their presence and they made it to the holding room without incident. The main problem would be making the switch between the fakes and the genuine artifacts. There were guards watching the area and Paherial could not deactivate the traps or oven the cases in their line of sight. Paherial positioned himself close to the cases and did his best impression of a servant doing everything except actual work. 

Felras wandered over to the opposite side of the room and started looking at one of the other pieces. It was the figurehead from the wretched Qunari dreadnought. It looked like it was meant to depict a female qunari. No doubt some noble would cherish mounting it on their wall. He reached out to touch it.

“Hey!” shouted one of the guards. He took a step towards Felras who jumped in mock surprise and bumped into the figurehead, sending it wobbling back and forth. The guard rushed forwards and the two on them together tried to catch it before it fell and took out the display next to it. Felras was rather proud of his performance. He managed to appear like he was trying to help, but overcorrected every adjustment so the hunk of wood never stopped teatering until Paherial have the all clear. The performance was so spectacular that it held the attention of the other guards, even if they didn’t leave their posts.

“Get out of here,” the guard said, shoving Felras away. He managed to get the figurehead balanced again and returned to his post muttering about ‘clumsy knife ears.’’

Felras apologized profusely and scurried off to help Paherial clear out the crate that had the stolen pieces inside. The forgeries were in place by now so if they moved quickally, they should be fine. They made it almost all the way to the loading docs when Felras heard a soft twang and a thunk.

Paherial’s side of the crate dropped and Felras fell over trying to keep hold of it. He looked up to see Paherial pinned to the wall by his shirt with an arrow. 

“Well that was impressive.” Felras searched for the source of the voice and found a dwarf, probably Tethras, sauntering down the hall they can come from. His legendary crossbow was trained on Fleras.

“I’m flattered you came all the way from out of town just to rob me. And I must admit that you did apassable job getting in and out without being too obvious. But I had all my employees memorize each other's faces and had them let me know if anyone else turned up.”

Felras tried to get up but felt mailed hands grabbing him from behind, holding him in place. He had a moment of absolute panic before he looked up to see Niklas and his men standing over him. They were so close to success, all that stood between them and success was one dwarf, but Niklas very clearly had no interest in challenging Varric and his unstoppable weapon.

The false guards started gently dragging Felras towards the exit. Paherial managed to free himself but didn’t seem to know what to do next. Everyone just sort of watched as Varric walked over to the crate and opened it to look inside. Paherial had put the heirlooms into the secret compartment Felras had used to sneak in. Felras had a moment of hope that they would remain hidden but once again Varric prevailed. He removed the lamp, the staff and the shield and set them on the ground.

“The Harrowmont items,” he said, more to himself than anyone else. He looked to Paherial crossbow at the ready. “Who are you working for?”

Paherial said nothing, staring down the dwarf and his weapon. Felras though for a moment that his mentor was going to die right then and there. But Varric smiled and put his crossbow away.

“Well,” he chuckled, “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to talk later.” Varric nodded to Niklas, at least part of their deception seemed to have worked. The false guards tentatively stepped forwards and collected Paherial and left Varric to reclaim the stolen heirlooms.

They were several blocks away from the auction house before Felras had the courage to speak.

“We failed,” he said. “I’m so sorry, if I’d been-”

“The original plan was never going to work,” Paherial said. “Varric isn’t the sort that you underestimate.”

“But we didn’t get the loot,” Niklas said. Paherial laughed.

“The heist isn’t over yet.”


End file.
